Kat, I'd go on facebook, to your local town page, and ask if there's anyone that has one and just say you're looking for property line pins.

In my experience, anyone who owns one is quite happy to go anywhere and look for anything.

Naww I don't want strangers on my property. Good Idea tho. The one I found on walmart cheap only detects 3inches into the ground, I don't even know if that would be deep enough.... I might just go play with the shovel up near the water meter.

Something weird I noticed, waaaay back when I swear the property lines looked different online than they do now on the county tax assessors website. Like, I KNOW when we built our fence that it was on our property (they built their part of it on a stringline that was supposed to be the property line-we moved our part over a good foot and closed the gap with a peice we put in sideways, like a corner), but the images show that is is on the neighbors?? WEIRD. I now seriously want to get it properly surveyed but I looked up prices for that and :o $500 or more for just half an acre and I have a bit over an acre. Nope. Not doing that unless I absolutely have to.

The biggest concern at this point is really, what will they consider as proof? Like I find the pins and run a line from front to back and take a picture, are they going to accept that? Because like, hell I could just fake a line for all they know!

If I were in your predicament Kat, I would be looking up any and everything I can about many different search terms associated with property, surveyor, and the proof you need. I'm sure there's people who have dealt with the same issue and you may run into some forum where this question was asked and answered, if not then you might need to dig through county ordinances in reference to property lines and ownership.

How does a surveyor costs so much?!! That's insane. Are they genius's?

Temps went from a very humid high 70's yesterday when all the storms were coming through and then bottomed out in the 40's overnight. My thermostat was down to 64 and I hadn't realized it until this morning when I was thinking how chilly I felt, lol. (I usually keep it at 66 for heat, but that 2 extra degrees made a difference! :P )

Its nice outside here at the moment, the sun is behind the clouds, its 70* but supposed to get warmer. Then rain by tonight. People next door are cleaning up the mess they made yesterday, in addition to working on making more mess lol (there was 1 guy there most of the day and he just tossed stuff off the roof to the ground, since he was up on the roof alone) Today there is at least 4 people over there 2 of them picking stuff up and 1 on the roof not sure what the last person is doing.

I just figured I'd call the water people back and ask what they'll accept as proof, once I find the stupid marker pins. Because evidently there IS no hurry, since they cannot get involved :P Its just me at this point, wishing to have it resolved before I put a mortgage in my name, so I don't have to deal with any issues later that may arise (tho there never may be any issue, who knows).

I think I will go and get the official "plat" map since its supposed to give measurements of the land boundaries. Not just a vague outline like what I can find online at the website. But I don't know if that will cost me $ or not, the water people suggested doing that, but didn't say if it would cost. EDIT: nope, no cost. Also no good help. It does give measurements, so now I know my property is 100 ft in front & back, one side is 446 ft and the other is 504 ft in length. That might help only if I can find the pins on either side and front & back to measure from. EDIT: 1250pm Hot dang. Made some progress. Hubby came by to check on the AC since its leaking again and Nathan said he thought the pipes were broken or not sealed or something....so he cleaned it out better w/ my help, then helped me go hunt property markers. We found the one on the far side by the old neighbors line, and the one on the other far side on the other neighbors line lol in front. Have not found the one in the middle that marks MY property. However we DID find the one in the back that marks the old neighbors line AND one in the back we believe marks OURS, even tho the old neighbor said he didn't put a marker in, maybe someone else did because its the same kind of marker as the two on the old neighbors side. And I'm sorry if all that sounds confusing. And I just ordered a metal detector from walmart so it should show up in 2-3 days.

EDIT 3pm dies laughing who in their right mind is going to substitute CANDY with RAMEN NOODLES???? WHAAAAT???? Thats what walmart wanted to do. The little 50c candy I ordered 2 of to make the total go over $35 for free shipping was not available. They wanted to substitute 58c ramen noodles. NO NO NO NO NO Why did you at least not try to substitute a $1 candy or something instead?? GEEEES. DUMB! Oh yes and I got my check back from the insurance company today so tomorrow Ryan and I will go to the bank and I'll call TJ (my contractor) and get him paid for the roof.

Oh hey! Found some pins!
I know my dad had to find whose property a couple of trees were on like 15yrs ago b/c he had to have the entire water pipe from the house to the street replaced and it ran under those trees between him and the neighbor's house. He didn't pay for a surveyor - the cost of that project was high enough - but had figured things out on his own by looking up stuff. If I recall, there was a fence that was already there when he bought the house on the other side of his house that marked a definite property line so if he got the map, he would've been able to measure it on his own.. I suppose. I was either living there or had just moved out w/ my girls at the time, right after my divorce, but I don't remember much about how he went about taking care of it.

I hate substitutions. They nearly always get it wrong or it's a very overpriced substitute. It wasn't that long ago, few years maybe, when you weren't charged for those overpriced substitutes but now it's clearly stated on the app, lol.
Ramen, though? Seems like they were substituting price instead of item. eyeroll

I don't like substitutions either. Most of the time I say NO to them if an item pops up wanting it. A few I'll allow - like once I let it switch a 4pk of plastic bowls to a 3pk that was near the same size as the ones I wanted and once they wanted to switch a bag of candy from the full size to bite size and I was like ok .... i didn't even know they'd made the bite size candy in that type and I loved it. lol

I'm a little concerned because two of the pins are in the root balls of pine trees that fell over in the tornado so - errrmmm they may not be quite accurate anymore lol But it is what I've got. I went out and measured from the fence line to the post we found on the neighbors side of the fence, and its like 10.7 ft from the post to the fence....and like I said earlier, the online map visual clearly shows the whole fence line to be on the neighbors property. Obviously those images are WRONG..... the oldest image online is from 2013- we bought our house in 2010. But all three images (2013, 2017 and 2021) show the same wrong border.

Well, googling a few search terms, this page offered some insights that others had on property lines, all in one page, although it still included a surveyor.
When looking up stuff about water meters, that yielded a lot of interesting results where some said it was the responsibility of the county due to how it was set up before you even bought it, and others said that if you ARE responsible for the new meter, they supposedly offer discounts if you're the one who initially called about the problem.

Lots of good info out there.

hmm. You certainly are good at researching stuff/looking it up!! :)

Blast. A lot of things I've read say to look at the deed for a description of the property. My warranty deed (I just spend 30mins looking for and found it, I knew I'd seen it recently), only says "as described by the plat filed by yaddda yadda yadda" - in other words, the plat map I got from the county. Which folks, btw, is from 1977. dies (the descripton on the deed: "All that tract or parcel of land lying and being in land lot # of the land district # of spalding county, etc etc, being more particularly shown and designated as a 1.04 acre tract, as shown on a plat of survey prepared by (name of surveyor/company) on the date (June 28, 1977!! I was 14 days old lol) and recorded in the plat book, to which reference is made for a more complete and accurate description" No real description on plat map, just survey # s and measurements. Oh and a statement claiming in their opinion this plat is a correct representation of the land and was prepared properly. lol wow. Just insane. I wonder if newer properties read like that too.

EDIT: 2pm So went and clipped some branches off the bigger logs in one of the pine piles that are left (2 left), moved some pine logs (smaller ones), realized there is freaking poison ivy (dead but you still have to be careful) on some of the logs. Yay. Not. And then called it quits cuz its quite hot out atm. But I do have a truck bed liner full of clipped branches. So I accomplished that much at least. I am at the point of wishing I'd just asked some people to come help since I could not get my own people (Ryan and Nathan) to help like I wanted. Still those two piles and TONS of raking. I think I've maybe raked less than 1/3 of the property at this point, and other stuff keeps getting blown/falling into the areas I already raked too. Ugh.

[edit] 5pm So I just thought I'd share where I am at with my schoolwork as I've been sharing everything but that lately lol In the first class, I have one more chapter to read and a quiz for it, and the final unit test to take. Then later, when they become available, I have two other assignments, a paper and a work ethics evaluation (eyeroll, so tired of work ethics). In the second class, I have one more chapter quiz, the final exam and another paper when they become available, I have to turn in one paper once it opens (I've finished writing it but can't turn it in until Tuesday). In the third class, I have to read 4 chapters, take a quiz on each, then I have two assignments that aren't available yet, and the work ethics evaluation that isn't' available yet. All these need to be done by May 8th that is the final day of school. (Some do have due dates -in the 2nd class- before that, but I am ahead of schedule so that won't be a problem).

It was interesting in one of the pages I read that when it comes to deeds, if it's really old, the property line would generaly use a landmark such as a tree or something. It actually makes sense, since most people weren't cutting down trees on their direct property at the time as it didn't interfere with commercial water/sewage lines (or in some states, power lines).

So is the 1977 plat when the property was initially built on/bought or was that when it was divided? At what point was the property split in to 2 distinct properties b/c that may make a major difference in who pays - and not between you and the neighbor. Seems as though there were a lot of places that were built that way and b/c of the updated system and laws, this problem came up often so there are a number of states/regions that dealt with this in their own separate way, either by county/city paying for it or by letting the owner know and giving them vouchers and breaks for having it done. It might be (is certainly) worth looking into a consultation w/ a property lawyer b/c that meter price is outrageous for one individual to pay. Consultations are generally free; paperwork is stupidly priced (even if you do it on your own) and a lawyer fee for doing it all for you would be MUCH cheaper, if it's in your favor. BUT.... you can find forums where you can "ask a lawyer" kind of thing and get a correct answer for, and if you do your due diligence, you can do those things on your own (and still pay stupid filing fees) but not pay the lawyer fees.

I hate raking. I also hate blowers.... People blowing around grass clippings, or leaf blowing. It's a loud and very annoying sound that grates my skin. I totally understand snow blowing b/c it's useful. The other stuff is for aesthetics and I absolutely hate hearing it.
(not so random b/c I've been hearing it for the last hour)

Well the plat map from 1977 shows the two separate properties, both however were in the same lady's name, as was a lot of the surrounding properties back then. - My guess is she sold the two acres, and had them surveyed to sell them, and thats when the survey/plat map was done. I don't think anything was built on it until ummm 1992? I am not positive of that tho. Both sections of property were sold to the same person at that time also, and I think he is the one who had the back (original) house built and the water meter put in. I am going off of what Mr. Eddie has said here (the old neighbor who used to live next door on the other side, who did the unofficial property lines for us way back when) - HE lived here when Howard bought the property/built the house I believe. EDIT: I looked it up - Mr Eddie bought his land in 1987, and moved into a house that was already built, so would have been here when Howard built the house in 1992.

The sales are slightly different for each property, it's a bit weird, since the names are mostly the same (up to the company who built the houses going bankrupt) lol

Like on mine it starts with Thelma giving Earl the property ($0-June 1977), Earl selling to Joe ($11k-Jan 1980), Joe giving to RL ($0-Sept 1980), RL giving? to Howard ($0-1992), Howard losing to bank ($0-April 2002), Company?/bank getting from bank ($0-June 2002), People who built MY house buying from bank ($25k-2003), that company going bankrupt & dividing property between owners ($0-Dec 2006), Owner going bankrupt (deed under power $92k-June 2009), Us buying from bank ($50k- June 2010).

On the other property, Thelma sells to Earl & Penny ($3k-Aug 1977), (possibly mutiple parcel purchase here?) Earl & Penny sell to Joe ($11k-Jan 1980), (no idea but I think this was possibly multiple parcels as well even tho it wasn't listed that way back then) Joe giving to RL ($0-Sept 1980), RL to Howard ($0-1985 listed as contract), RL giving?/selling? (no $ listed) to Howard ($0-1992), Howard losing to bank ($0-April 2002), bank to bank ($0-June 2002), Bank to people who built neighbor's house (same time as my house)($25k-2003-this is listed as multiple parcels, so I am thinking they got both properties for the 1 price not 25k each),
company going bankrupt, property going to other partner ($0- Jan 2007), owner going bankrupt (deed under power - $25k-July 2010), current owner next door purchasing from bank ($25k-Nov 2010)

Its a bit confusing you see??? I have no idea what some of the characters mean - like UK (unknown? maybe?), KIN - i think that is a kinship transfer of deed, that is when Joe gives to RL they both have same last name. Fair market-vacant = empty lot I guess? Non Fair Market Value ?? HUH? Multiple parcels, again I think that is when Ashley & Ken bought both tracts, Quit Claim - that is when they divided the property between the two of them. Deed under power ? My guess is gave it up to the bank during bankruptcy? and lastly our purchase and the owner next door says "bank ALT improved sale" HUH?

[edit] Oh hmm I just noticed on my papers it says the "storage building" (the back/original house) was built in 1990.

[edit] Happy Easter everyone :) I made my kiddos little baskets of candy and a stuffy, even tho we didnt dye eggs and are not going to do an egghunt, Nathan didn't want to. Shane did show up home again last night, but I was not going to ask him and end up going back to the store for more eggs to dye.

I am a little sad they did not start Vesnali this past week/weekend. Ah well. This holiday is always the hardest for me to get accomplished, I never find enough flowers to get enough coins (Well, I do for the new plushies, beanbags, stickers, etc, but never to get all the old/new books)

To me, it seems like the original property survey that shows the split between 2 properties is the one to use. Maybe a comparison of when the first buildings were constructed would give a better landmark type of picture? Idk.

Easter... yeah totally forgot that was today but everyone else seems to be busy at the store for whatever reason. I went to get a couple things, including soil for my veggie garden. Didn't realize the bags were going to be 50lb. I said F it and got 5 bags but there was a pile on the outside of the store so I took one in and scanned it 5x, then pulled my car up next to the stack and put them in. I'm able to get to the back yard by carefully going over the curb so I could park next to the garden and then unload them.

Thought I was going to turn over the garden soil today but instead I cut down new honeysuckle that's around my chicken coop and cleaned up a bunch of branches back there, so I have 2 piles now. lol One of honeysuckle and one of wood. I have to admit to having a rather large pool hanging around in my backyard for 2yrs that I finally got around to cutting up today. Best way I could think of doing it was with a knife. (I have a Ka Bar, military knife.) I still have to get all the pieces into the trash and my can isn't big enough so I guess I'll be using a bunch of leaf bags.
Pretty sore and didn't feel like doing anything else b/c turning over the garden with a shovel is so much work... not to mention emptying out 50lb bags of soil.................................... ugh.

Still need more soil for the upper gardens - small tomato garden next to the house and the flower garden - find a new blade for my mower and pick up tomato stakes, more mulch and whatever kind of fencing I can to go in the front to keep the grass and bush area separate. Very busy spring, for me.
Hey, at least I'm getting my exercise in. :P

Busy day, Taarna!

Happy Easter, everyone!

This morning Iz walked down with her eyes covered, so she didn't see where there were eggs and cheat, which was super cute!

They did their baskets, found eggs (SO many eggs. Every year. But it's fine!).

Then the big kids swept again, Isabelle helped peel hardboiled eggs. My stepdad came for breakfast, and we made um.. everything. Devilled eggs, bacon, sausage, scrapple, french toast (with or without eggs in the cookie cutter cut out), and hash brown casserole.

Then we put together the porch swing he brought over, then Alex and I cut up some more wood, put it away, then Iz cleaned the outside table, El cut the weeds from around it, THEN we cut some MORE wood, El pulled the wagon up the hill and Iz pulled it... then Iz, Lily and I played some basketball before we left for dinner. Ate dinner (it was fine), then D, A, Iz, Darren, and I played badminton and something we called fireball.. which was like volleyball, except instead of hitting the ball back (the little kids were having a hard time with that), you caught it and then threw it back within 2 seconds LOL. Then we were all EGGhausted. so we went back and had dessert.. sat around the fire outside a bit while Darren, Iz and Akira played some kind of hide and seek/zombie hunting nerf game, THEN Rachel, Akira and I hid 74 eggs for Darren, Jackson and Iz to find. That took a while :P

Basically, a very busy, very fun, very active day LOL.

Now that's an active day, Mieke! (that's an absurdly eggnormous amount of eggs...) 😂

The last time I had my girls do an easter egg hunt was when my oldest was 18 and my youngest 16. As they got older, the plastic eggs were filled with better treasures, such as money. lol Loved filling up and decorating easter baskets, which I still did for many years after that last egg hunt.

Just ate an easy dinner. Kitchen is crazy again so I'm glad I didn't have to cook anything, other than using the microwave. I'm done for the day and hope to have a good, long sleep tonight.

No dyed eggs or egg hunt here. I could have, in the end, as I ended up with all kids (plus 1) home :) (Wesley is the plus 1, Katies boyfriend of about 4yrs). I even thought about it, when Katie finally let me know they did come up...because Nathan's reason not to do it was "its not fun when there isn't anyone else" - and I have a TON of plastic eggs and those weird, not quite plastic dyeable fake eggs I could have hid around before Katie got here. But I didn't. We just did baskets. Little baskets - not a lot in, a few things of candy and a stuffy each. I couldn't resist these cute Easter gnomes, and then I found a frog for Wesley, so I got Katie a cat to match, and didn't want Shane to feel left out so I got him a bunny. Not that he is at all interested in stuffies lol but I've always tried to either do exactly what they want, or more or less the same for all. - so if one gets a stuffy, they all do. lol

Yes, I'll try to use the original plat map, but the problem is still finding that pin in the middle of mine/next door. Even with my (admittedly very cheap, thus probably very weak) metal detector I bought; I could not find it. So I think I am going to buy string, tie it to the two outer posts, and run in 100ft from each and see where that is, then mark off the middle even if I don't find a post - and try and take a line (I may have to tie 2 lines together) to the back post I found. Then make the water people come look at it w/ their own eyes to make a decision because that way its not just my word - I can show them the posts/map/string.

Nathan wanted a ham, so I got a small one, I was going to go for a ham steak or a pork roast, but no, he wanted spiral sliced ham. I also did mashed potatoes, broccoli/rice casserole, devilled eggs, black olives, corn, and I made bread, but I used some of the dough to make rolls and spread melted butter on top of them after baking, yum!

74 eggs can be a lot. I don't know how many you did at your own house tho lol But think of this, I scattered (not hid, thank gosh!) 20 eggs x 22 kids at school the other day...now THAT is a lot of eggs. We'd only asked for 1 dozen each kid - but some sent 2-4 dozen and one kid brought in a bag of 100 eggs :o I had 3 kids bring in their eggs the last day. lol Sheesh.

If I was to hide the eggs I have here at home like I was talking about earlier, I think I have a minimum of about 10-12 dozen I could hide? Maybe more, I'm not sure lol Plastic eggs at my house are always just filled with candy. I guess I could have just changed the candy into the amount of money I would have spent on the candy, the kids would have loved that, but I never did. It was always candy. They like candy so it was ok. I let them pick the types of candy as they got older.

you were busy in your garden, how lovely!! I also have a ton of junk I need to get hauled off. I keep thinking about just renting one of those drop off dumpsters. Maybe one day. So much junk in/around the back house.

Ummm we probably had well over 150 at home. Or maybe more LOL.

Rachel brought the eggs, which was sweet! I didn't think we were doing it this year, since it was only the three of them, but they had so much fun, so I'm glad she did!

Guys, I'm so excited it's going to be nice this week. We're having ribs on Saturday! They've been in the freezer for.. far too long, so I'm glad to see them go. :P It's the time of year we normally try to eat everything (or almost everything, at least!) and clean our the freezers anyway so.. good timing to get them gone! Next we're going to have to have some hams... I bought them super cheap after Easter, but there's still two? or three? big ones left.

Today I'm running out quick for more sandpaper, then the kids and I are going to sand and maybe? paint the swing. It was at my godmothers house for 10 years? and then my parents house for 5 or so more so.. it's time for the poor thing to get some loving!

Oh. almost forgot! I got something from BHH this morning! . And oh gosh Kat. We got a dumpster last year, and I'm getting another one either at the end of this month or beginning of next month.. and then probably another one in July. All this junk has got. to. goooooooo.

Nice job on the BHH. What did it cost? How big was it? How long were you able to keep it? What are you allowed to put in it? Lol those are all questions I will be asking whoever I get one from because it'll probably be different (somewhat) here than there.

I was everywhere else BUT the garden, Kat. :P I wish had a tiller, or a truck b/c then I could at least rent one. It's getting quite big and I'm just adding more to it this year with cabbage and broccoli and unfortunately I picked up some asparagus and after reading how to plant, it says that a full mature harvest isn't for 4-6yrs. :O Oh well. The only thing that worries me is making sure that I remember it's there and not to dig it up when I turn the garden over next year.

Took a nap for lunch break and logged out early b/c I was on painfully early, as I had woken up before 4 and couldn't fall back asleep. At least I got productive. Went to Lowes and after searching the entire garden section, I found the tomato stakes (I normally don't get them) and some smaller metal ones for the cherry tomatoes. I got extra stakes b/c I'm going to plant a bunch of lettuce and I do not want to feed the critters. (I did get a new hummingbird feeder, though. 😂 ) After checking their prices for mulch, landscaping stones and soil, I headed to Walmart. Picked up basil and the aforementioned asparagus, 3 more bags of mulch which should finish everything off, and all the pickling spices needed to make spicy pickled eggs. I have like 5 dozen fresh eggs I need to start doing something with.
Just made the brine and need to peel the eggs and do a few more things to finish.

Oh, you should call or look up stuff on the trash website, lol. Whatever company is responsible, they'll have a website and you can also call them. I think they offer the best deals when it comes to dumpsters. I called for one like a year ago but I have problems since I have no driveway and both sides of my house go down a hill. The city may allow one to be on the street where I park, but I can't be the one to call, since I don't own the property/house. Whatever.

Mieke - I totally know what you mean about this week!!!! Super excited myself and probably why I'm gung ho about getting things done. It's been years since I started this early and I'm already excited w/ the tomatoes and ginger that are going good! (And the love lies bleeding flowers, although they're actually still pretty small. Slackers. ) The warm February gave me the jump start to take care of my front bush area so I guess I've been in that frame of mind and have a good start both mentally and... well not so much physically but I'll work through it. :D

Off to finish these pickled eggs. Got more to say but these eggs aren't going to peel themselves.

Ohhh well hahaha you were preparing for it at least ;) Are you serious? :o 4-6 YEARS? wow. insane. did you at least plant it in an area that tilling up the rest of the garden will be easy?

Well I don't even have trash pickup. I take mine down the county dump site (there are several of them spaced around the county, you take your trash there, they haul it to the county landfill). I don't think they do the dumpsters for people. But there are numbers/companies I could call....I just haven't got around to it as there is so much else other more important things to do besides cleaning junk out (much as I WANT to do that). - More important to clean up the yard, to get the water meter figured out, to fix my house after the tornado, to figure out where my life is heading, my schoolwork, the divorce, my pain-in-the-a$$ child, etc :) But one day, I'll figure out the dumpster and junk situation...one day.

Speaking of fixing the house, the contractors wife stopped by today (they run the company together, she's like the clerk/paperwork/office person) to pick up the check for the payment. bye bye butterfly, lots of $ gone from my account soon!! Then on top of that I bought a new pair of shoes, recommended by a co-worker. I needed something that is not sandals, is work appropriate and won't kill my feet at the end of the day. Also I filled the gas-guzzler up with gas lol - I got 19mpg for that tank - I think because of that long-a$$ drive to Lagrange last monday, lots of easy open road. (much less stop&go traffic than I do normally to/from work/etc) Tomorrow I think I am going to pop over to the college and try to get signed up for summer and fall classes to finish up my associates degree, but I am just not sure if I can handle 4 classes fall semester - I want to do it just to be done, and I am hoping that if one of them is the "internship" type class, it won't be as much work as a regular class? I really just don't know tho. I need 7 more classes, so 3 for summer, and 4 for fall. Then enroll w/ Mercer for the bachelor's program. And while that has me a little nervous, I am pretty sure I can handle 2 classes every 8 weeks. :)

Pickled eggs are pickling in the fridge! I followed this recipe and had to substitute jalapenos for serranos and then I didn't pick up coriander b/c I forgot my list and got fennel and cumin seeds instead so I halved them to sub for the coriander. So excited to taste them tomorrow!

I haven't planted anything yet. In my zone, it's safest to plant in May but I'll probably have things planted by this weekend and just watch for frost alerts and cover them if needed. I did that one year in a mood and planted early and there was a frost, but I had the plants covered for it. I do plan on putting the asparagus in a corner of the garden that is away from the most water that gathers in spots where the new garden is. I'll just have to mark it with something. Oh and it looks like I never finished my sentence about the stakes, no critters, and adding a fence, lol. It will be low so if a bunny really wants to get in there, it will be able to hop. But seriously, there's plenty of food for them all around, as nothing has chemicals around me, even from the city property which is right next to this one.

I certainly hear ya on all the other things that need more attention. Getting everyone's junk out of here is more on the last thing on the list that I'm worried about. Did some pricing about a month ago on junk removal and yeah, it's not favorable but doing it all myself is more than I can handle. Might consider it for next year, since I won't be spending a chunk on another mattress.

Omg, I was finally able to finish the blackout curtains in the living room and I'm so happy. Put those up yesterday, too. Tested it today and it was nice and kinda dark in here, which is exactly what I need during the summer since my living room gets full sun all day and there's only 1 good vent for the central air. I had gotten some before from Walmart, and they "looked" white except for when you hang them. When the sun hits them, they give a yellowish tinge and it's ugly. Not to mention they were never true blackout, absolutely sucked when you washed and dried them as there was this backing to them that was like a film instead of fabric and it always starts to break apart.
I just can't stand the price of curtains so that's always been a work in progress and I had to get all new white ones (b/c it was pretty much the only thing that matched my blue living room) after my brother and I painted it last year.

From the Farmer's Almanac: The most important thing to know about asparagus is that you really should not harvest it during the first couple of seasons. These plants need to be allowed to get established before you can harvest sustainably. The patience is well worth it, though, as asparagus beds can be productive for 15, 20, sometimes up to 30 years.

wow. I never knew that about asparagus, so it just keeps on growing and producing? Most things I've planted died off and had to be replanted. (I've done cucumbers, peas, radishes, carrots, lettuce, etc in the past).

I have been thinking about blackout curtains too, for my living room to see if it makes a difference in the ac bill in summer - but I LIKE the sunlight. I usually use it for light in the daytime. But Ryan got some for his house because he's got plexiglass windows and they suck (the windows, at keeping in heat or air), and I liked how nice they looked (the curtains) and how dark it gets (when I want it dark, i want it DARK!)...I do have vertical blinds in both windows in the LR. - I only ever open one set of blinds, the other one the twist rod broke off so I am now in the habit of not opening it. Nothing on the kitchen window, which is open space to the LR. Its small tho. (less than half the size of ONE of the LR windows). I mostly want it dark in my bedroom when I sleep. I have tinfoil over my windows, and two sets of regular curtains (doubled up on the rod) over that window.